Soliin Danzan
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Soliin Danzan (; 1885–1924)Batbayar, Ts. (1996). ''Modern Mongolia: A Concise History.'' Offset Printing, Mongolian Center for Scientific and Technological Information was a central figure in
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
's early revolutionary movement. He was a founding member of the
Mongolian People's Party The Mongolian People's Party (MPP) is a social democratic political party in Mongolia. It was founded as a communist party in 1920 by Mongolian revolutionaries and is the oldest political party in Mongolia. The party played an important role ...
(later renamed the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party or MPRP) in 1919 and later served as chairman of the Party Central Committee in 1921. Danzan orchestrated the purge and execution of Mongolia's first prime minister, Dogsomyn Bodoo in 1922, but then was himself purged and executed in 1924.


Early life and revolution

Danzan was born in
Tüsheet Khan Tüsheet Khan refers to the territory as well as the Chingizid dynastic rulers of the Tüsheet Khanate, one of four Khalka khanates that emerged from remnants of the Mongol Empire after the death of Dayan Khan's son Gersenji in 1549 and whic ...
Province in 1885. As a young man he made his living as a horse thief. Later he went on to work in Niislel Khüree (present day
Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...
) as a customs official in the Ministry of Finance. In 1919 Danzan, Dansrabilegiin Dogsom, and
Damdin Sükhbaatar Damdin Sükhbaatar (2 February 1893 – 20 February 1923) was a Mongolian revolutionary, founding member of the Mongolian People's Party, and leader of the Mongolian partisan army that took Khüree during the Mongolian Revolution of 19 ...
together established the clandestine nationalist group ''Züün Khüree'' (East Khüree) after General
Xu Shuzheng Hsu Seu-Cheng or Xu Shuzheng (; ) (11 November 1880 – 29 December 1925) was a Chinese warlord in Republican China. A subordinate and right-hand man of Duan Qirui, he was a prominent member of the Anhui clique. Early life Xu was born i ...
's forces entered Niislel Khüree to re-assert Chinese sovereignty. ''Züün Khüree'' subsequently merged with the ''Konsulyn Denj'' group to form the MPRP in 1919, making Danzan one of the seven founders of the MPRP. In July 1919 Danzan and
Khorloogiin Choibalsan Khorloogiin Choibalsan (8 February 1895 – 26 January 1952) was a Mongolian politician who served as the leader of the Mongolian People's Republic as the Prime Minister of Mongolia, chairman of the Council of Ministers (premier) from 1939 unt ...
traveled to Verkhneudinsk, the capital of the pro-Soviet Far Eastern Republic, in the first part of July where they met with
Boris Shumyatsky Boris Zakharovich Shumyatsky (; – 29 July 1938) was a Soviet politician, diplomat and the ''de facto'' executive producer for the Soviet film monopolies Soyuzkino and GUKF from 1930 to 1937. He was executed as a traitor in 1938, following a ...
, then acting head of the government. For three weeks Shumyatsky dodged their demands for a speedy Soviet decision whether or not to provide military assistance to the Mongolians against the Chinese. Danzan,
Darizavyn Losol Darizavyn Losol (; April 15, 1890 – July 25, 1940) was a revolutionary leader and post-Revolution governmental figure in Mongolia until he was purged in 1939. Early life Losol (or "Darizhavyn" or "Darijavyn") was born into a herdsman's family ...
, and L. Dendev traveled to
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in August and then onto
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
in September 1919 to further consult with Soviet authorities. At first the Soviets were hesitant to provide the Mongolian revolutionaries with assistance for fear of unnecessarily antagonizing the Chinese. However, with the expulsion of Chinese troops from Niislel Khüree by the anti-Soviet Russian warlord Baron von Ungern-Sternberg in February 1921, the Soviets backed the MPRP. At the Soviet-organized first congress of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party was held secretly in Kyakhta between March 1–3, 1921, Danzan was elected chairman of the party's central committee. On 28 June, the main Soviet expeditionary corps along with a group of Mongolian partisans crossed the border into Mongolia, and on 6 July, the first Mongolian and Russian units entered Niislel Khüree.


Purge of Bodoo

Within two months of the Mongolian Revolution and the establishment of the revolutionary government in July 1921, Danzan lost his seat as party leader to
Tseren-Ochiryn Dambadorj Tseren-Ochiryn Dambadorj (; 1898 – June 25, 1934) was a Mongolian politician who served as Chairman of the Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party from 1921 to 1928. He was Stalinist purges in Mongolia, expelled from t ...
, a relative of Prime Minister Dogsomyn Bodoo. The move intensified the political rivalry between Bodoo and Danzan who, as
Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...
, engineered various plots to remove the Prime Minister from office. He exploited the angry public backlash to Bodoo's unpopular campaign (initially instigated by the Soviets) to "modernize" the people by forcibly cutting off “feudal” ornaments from Mongolian deels such as large cuffs, women's jewelry, and even long hair.Baabar 1999, p. 231 Danzan also accused the Prime Minister of plotting with the independence leader Ja Lama and with the Chinese and Americans to undermine the revolution and establish an autocratic government. Even after Bodoo resigned from all of his positions within the government for health reasons on January 7, 1922 Danzan pursued charges against him until he was convicted of counterrevolution. Bodoo was executed by shooting on August 31, 1922.


Political rivalries

Political infighting continued within the party and a rivalry developed between Danzan and Rinchingiin Elbegdorj, leader of the leftists and chief adviser to the
Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...
in
Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...
. After he was elected member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the MPRP in February 1923, Danzan angered Elbegdorj and the Comintern by seeking to reduce the number of Soviet advisers in Mongolia, attempting to bring the radicalized Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League (MRYL) under party control, and resisting Soviet advice that Mongolia bypass capitalism and move directly to socialism. Danzan had a head for business and supported the introduction of limited capitalism into Mongolia's economic development. At one point he represented the American-Mongolian automobile company in Khüree and had been given a
Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with i ...
motorcycle by the American businessman W. Holman.Addleton, Jonathan. (2013). ''Mongolia and the United States: A Diplomatic History'' Hong Kong University Press The conflict came to a head at the Third Party Congress in August 1924. Rinchingiin Elbegdorj and Dambadorj (head of the right-wing faction) both accused Danzan of representing bourgeois interests and engaging in business with American and Chinese firms. Danzan and Bavaasan, head of the Revolutionary Youth league, were arrested together with several other delegates, quickly put on trial, sentenced to death, and shot: all within a period of 24 hours while the party congress continued to meet.C.R. Bawden, ''The Modern History of Mongolia'', London 1968, p. 276-282 Nevertheless, the swiftness of Danzan's execution sent a shock wave through the party that consolidated the Soviet stranglehold on Mongolia.Sandag, Shagdariin; Kendall, Harry (1999). ''Poisoned Arrows: The Stalin-Choibalsan Mongolian Massacres, 1921-1941.'' Westview Press, In the decades that followed, Mongolian sources erased or ignored Danzan's prominent role in the formation and early years of the MPRP. He was vilified as a Japanese spy and a whisper campaign accused him of murdering Mongolia's revolutionary hero SükhbaatarC.R. Bawden, ''The Modern History of Mongolia'', London 1968, p. 222ff who had died unexpectedly in 1923 at the young age of 30. According to Ts. Batbayar, following their executions, " Bodoo and Danzan were stigmatized by official historians as traitors and counter-revolutionaries and their services to the revolution have for the most part been ignored or neglected."Batbayar, Ts. The Mongolian People's Revolution on 1921 and the Mongolian People's Republic (1924-46). In Chahryar Adle, Madhavan K. Palat, Anara Tabyshalieva (Eds.). ''History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Towards the contemporary period : from the mid-nineteenth to the end of the twentieth century'' UNESCO, 2005, , p. 363 n. 1


References


Further reading

*Dash, D; Nymaa, A. (1990). ''Soliin Danzan''. Ulsyn Khevleliin Gazar {{DEFAULTSORT:Danzan, Soliin 1885 births 1924 deaths Finance ministers of Mongolia Mongolian communists Mongolian revolutionaries Executed Mongolian people Executed politicians